Alec and Jace One-Shots
by IFandomTooMuch
Summary: Collection of one-shots about the bond between Alec and Jace. A lot will probably be centered on when they were kids, but will almost definitely be adult them too.
1. Chapter 1

**Mini Summary- Alec was injured on-mission. Only Jace knows, but Alec wants him to keep quiet. So of course Jace promises, and takes care of Alec himself.**

* * *

Jace watched Alec fight from the sideline, staring critically and biting his lip. He could feel Izzy continuously glancing over at him, her face scrunching up like she was completely weirded out by him. He probably did look a little strange; all tense. But he was worried. Alec had gotten hurt barely a few hours ago, but he refused to tell anyone and made Jace promise to keep quiet too. He'd said he was fine and that he didn't want to be a bother. Jace figured he just didn't want to be seen as any less than perfect in the eyes of his parents. Which was... reasonable, as far as excuses went. The Lightwoods were intimidating and pretty high-strung.

Jace winced when he saw Alec's mouth twitch in pain at the movement it took to step out of the reach of the staff in his mother's hand. Jace had to take in a deep breath to keep himself from calling out for them to stop. Alec could act tough as he wanted, but he was only human, and injured humans needed to be tended to- not pushed towards furter injury. But rather than acting on his own opinion, he decided to respect his brother's.

As Maryse went in for another attack with her staff, Alec's face tightened with pain and one of his legs buckled beneath him. Only Jace noticed, but he didn't have time to say anything. The staff caught the back of Alec's shoulderblade, making the boy shout in pain before falling to the matter floor.

Jace looked away and swallow, the audible symptom of pain sending a strange feeling through the younger boy. Like worry, or fear.

"Get up" Maryse order, Alec clearly struggling to do so. A look of concern hit her face "I barely hit you, come on"

Jace looked between Izzy and Maryse, the only other people in the room, before deciding that he couldn't let Alec keep training. The cuts on his back were probably bleeding again after that hit.

Maryse turned back in surprise as she heard Jace's quick steps over "Jace-"

"I'll get him checked out" Jace interrupted, pulling his brother up and trying his best not to glare at anyone.

Without another word passing among the four inhabitants, Jace led his brother out "The hell were you thinking?" He demanded as soon as they made it to the next room "I told you that you weren't fit enough to train yet. You should have just told someone"

"I thought my healing rune would have done its job by now"

"Did you see how deep those cuts where?" Jace asked, immediately realizing his mistake "I mean..." He sighed, opening Alec's bedroom door "You know what I mean"

"I can handle it" Alec protested as he sat himself down on the bed.

"You didn't even have the strength to get back up" Jace pointed out, lifting Alec's shirt over his head without even needing to ask.

"I was getting there" Alec replied, wincing as the air hit his wounds.

Jace sighed heavily "Well they were starting to close up. But that hit reopened a few of them" He explained, unimpressed at the mass of cuts he had to look at.

"None of them are bleeding though, right? I can't feel any blood"

"There's a bit, not much. I'll get something to clean it up with"

Alec looked down at the floor, disappointed with himself. He thought he could handle it, he thought he would be better of if no one knew. He was wrong on both accounts. If Jace hadn't seen his wounds in the first place, he'd be even worse off now. Of course the only way Jace couldn't have seen his wounds was if he wasn't with him when he got them, and if they weren't together, Alec would've been killed by that creature instead of just maimed.

"Might sting a bit" Jace warned before pressing a cool material against his brother's back.

Alec tensed up a bit at the burning sensation, closing his eyes and biting his lip as he fought down the instinct to jump away from the contact. It would help in the long run, so he had to deal with it. The feeling didn't leave even after Jace threw the cloth across the room, landing it on the desk in the corner, and Alec winced at the pain of it

"Here" Jace said, offering a new shirt over.

Alec took it, smiling as a thanks.

"You alright?" Jace asked, face falling into one of worry.

Alec wanted to say yes, and tell Jace to go back to training, that he'd be fine. But he couldn't get the words out. He wasn't fine. He wasn't fine at all. He was in terrible pain, he was embarrassed, he was afraid; afraid of the way his mother might act when he next saw her. She was sure to be mad at him, leaving training like that, for no reason. She must have thought he was pathetic, taking a hit as soft as that and not being able to even get back up. But she wouldn't think any more of him if it was because he was already hurt, then she'd just be disappointed that he had let himself be hurt on the mission. There was no winning anymore.

"Alec?" The worry was in Jace's voice now too.

Alec started to shudder, his eyes burning with the invasion of tears. He didn't want to cry, not right now, not in front of Jace. He tried again to say something, something like _I'm fine_ , _go_ , but he still couldn't. Instead he just looked at his friend, heartbroken and silent.

Jace immediately wrapped his arms around the older boy, holding on protectively. Alec was a mess in his embrace, sobbing and shaking and releasing hordes of hot tears. But Jace didn't care, he just held on tighter. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to, he just let Alec cry. He kept himself calm, contained his breathing even as he felt tempted to fall into the crazy rhythm of Alec's. Eventually, and Jace couldn't even guess how long it had been, Alec began to calm down.

The older boy pushed himself out of Jace's grip, red-faced and puffy-eyed "Thanks" He managed to snuffle out, looking down like he was ashamed "You should probable go... now" He added, not sounding like he liked his own idea

"I'm not leaving you"

Alec looked up, seemingly shocked.

As If Jace was going to walk away when his brother was in pain.

"Wha-"

"How about I read to you?" Jace interjected.

"I-" Alec started in confusion.

"What about the book you just got? You haven't had time to read it yet"

"Uh... okay" Alec agreed, still confused.

Jace smiled "Well I'm not the fastest reader so you might wanna get comfortable first" He said, going over to retrieve the book. Shogun, by James Clavell. Jace had never heard of it, of course. Alec was mostly into historical fiction, Jace was more into typical action/adventure stories.

"Move over, I need to fit too" Jace playfully informed the other boy. After sitting himself against a few pillows and pulling the blankets up to his waist, Jace began reading.

"Blackthorne was suddenly awake. For a moment he thought he was dreaming because he was ashore and the room unbelievable. It was small and very clean and covered with soft mats. He was lying on a thick quilt and another was thrown over him. The ceiling was polished cedar..." Jace wasn't even listening to himself as he read. He focused more on the sound of Alec's breathing, the sbuddering rise and fall of the older boy's chest.

He didn't like his brother being in pain. Sure, they weren't blood-related, and they weren't even Parabatai yet, but Jace saw Alec as his brother nevertheless. And seeing his brother in pain sent an unwelcome sick feeling to his gut. He wasn't used to that feeling, he wasn't used to most feelings; since his childhood had consisted mostly of training and hardly of love, but he really got along with Alec.

Alec's breathing stated to even out, his cost falling into a steady, even rhythm. Jace smiled to himself, continuing to read. It took a good forty minutes to finish just the first chapter, but Jace didn't mind. It had calmed Alec down.

"You want me to stay?" He asked, the head buried against his side shuffling a bit.

"If you want" Alec mumbled back.

If that didn't sum up Alec Lightwood perfectly. He'd put any and all of his own wants or needs aside for anyone else's.

Jace closed the book gently and placed it on the tableside. He pushed Alec a little away from him, much to the older boy's obvious displeasure, but only to gain the room to properly lay into the bed, beside his brother.

Alec looked surprised, as if he actually thought Jace was going to leave. But after realizing that, _no_ , Jace was in fact staying, he immediately resumed curling up and burying himself into the comfort of his friend's body.

After Alec settled himself back down comfortably, Jace hung his arm over the boy's shoulder and placed his head over the top of the boy beside him, like a protective dog.

Jace didn't let himself sleep until he was positive that his brother was already deep in the clutches of oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Mini Summary- Jace doesn't like talking about his dreams. Alec just wants to help.**

* * *

An intense pain woke Alec up. He looked around wildly before another wave of pain hit him. His first reaction was to locate the pain, which didn't take long at all. His Parabatai rune. Alec's eyes widened before he threw the covers back and leapt from his bed.

Moments from Jace's door, the younger boy's screams could be heard. Alec wasted no time in throwing the door open and rushing to his Parabatai. Behind him, the momentum of the door opening made it fall back- closed.

"Jace!" Alec called out, trying to pull his friend's mind from the nightmare it was trapped in "Jace!" He tried again, more forcibly. It didn't even garner a reaction.

Alec cringed at the sight of his friend, his heart aching at the screams of pain and fear. The older boy bit his lip, searching for a solution. His rune still burnt with the pain that wasn't his and he wanted nothing more than to make it stop; for his Parabatai.

"Jace" Alec said, placing his hands on either side of his friend's face "Jace, can you hear me?" He asked, doubting he'd get any sort of answer.

He was right of course. Jace continued to shake and scream with no sign of acknowledgement toward his Parabatai.

If he couldn't coax Jace into the waking world, he'd just have to force him to.

Cold water.

That was good for waking people up.

But not too cold, Alec immediately decided.

There was already a cup on Jace's bedside table, so Alec took it and went into the bathroom, attached to Jace's room, to fill it. He probably didn't need much water to jump start Jace, but he figured he should fill the whole cup anyway.

For a precious three seconds, Jace's screams actually let up. But then they came back, even stronger than before.

Alec whimpered and doubled over by the sink; at the new torrents of pain that his Parabatai was unwillingly sending over. That only made Alec hurry himself up.

Hanging the cup above his friend's face, Alec decided there was a fair chance Jace might try to kill him. He determined that it would be worth it.

Tipping the cup, Jace's reaction was almost instant as the water hit him. Alec jumped back, most of the water falling to the floor. Jace was gasping and shook his head. He wiped his hand across his face and looked at his brother in confusion.

"You okay?" Alec asked, putting the near empty cup back on the table.

Jace looked like he was at a struggle for words "Cold" He finally answered, with a small laugh.

Alec smiled in relief, least Jace still had his humour.

Jace opened his mouth to ask Alec what happened, but his memory caught up to him and he clamped his mouth back down.

"Jace?" Alec sat beside his Parabatai, looking over him worriedly.

"I'm fine" Jace brushed him off.

Alec bit his lip. Should he bring it up?

"You were having a nightmare"

Jace didn't show any reaction, he kept looking at the floor, his breathing calm- but a forced calm.

"It was bad. You were in so much pain. And you wouldn't stop screaming" Alec lightly explained "What was it?" He asked after seconds of pure silence.

"Nothing" Jace replied instantaneously.

"It wasn't _nothing,_ Jace! It was enough to wake me up!" Alec protested.

Jace closed his eyes. He didn't want to bring the dream back up. He wanted to forget it. And he didn't want to involve Alec into his family issues.

"Jace. What's wrong?" Alec pushed, his rune beginning to burn again.

"Nothing! Alec! Just forget it"

"We're Parabatai now, remember? I know it's not nothing"

"You don't need to know" Jace defended.

Alec pressed his lips together. Sometimes he hated Jace "I want to know. I want to help" He argued.

"You can help" Jace almost growled "By _forgetting_ about it!"

Alec pulled back. He couldn't change Jace's mind if he had all the time in the world "Fine" He agreed, getting up and heading for the door "Good night" He probably sounded more aggressive than he intended, really he was just hurt.

They were Parabatai. They were connected. They felt pretty much every feeling the other did. Did Jace really think Alec was even capable of forgetting? He could _still_ feel Jace's pain.

He would always feel Jace's pain so long as he was _in_ pain. Forgetting was never an option. But how was he supposed to get Jace to actually open up?

He pulled the covers back over himself as he settled into his bed. Tonight wasn't even the first time Alec had woken up in agony, but it had never lasted long enough for Alec to realize what was happening.

Had Jace been getting nightmares all week? He should have said something. But of course not, he was Jace Wayland; 15 year old Iceman.

Alec didn't get any sleep that night.

But neither did Jace.

* * *

Izzy, Alec and Jace were called to the operations room by 9am, Maryse awaiting them. Ten hours since Jace's most recent nightmare. Him and Alec refused to even look at each other.

Izzy picked up on their behaviour straight away. She questioned, but never got an answer. Now she was looking between the two boys, wondering if they were even fit to go on-mission.

"Look out for each other" Maryse finished. Did she pick up on them too? Or did she actually think they didn't know what to do?

Jace snuck a glance past Izzy to look at his Parabatai, who was still looking only directly ahead of himself.

"Go" Maryse added, wondering why her children hadn't already left. This time her command was followed through.

"Whatever you did, fix it" Izzy whispered harshly to Jace, stalking ahead of her two brothers so they would have more chance to talk between themselves.

Jace wanted to. But Alec did not look happy, and Jace wasn't interested in poking angry bears.

Alec stared over at his friend; it wasn't a glare, but it shared the qualities of one.

Jace waited until they were completely free of Maryse's watch and pulled Alec to the side, much to the older boy's irritation.

"Listen, Alec. I'm sorry that I pushed you away last night-"

"It's fine" Alec replied and tried to leave.

"What?" Jace grabbed his Parabatai's wrist again "No it's not. You just wanted to help me, and I made you feel worse"

"I feel fine-"

"Parabatai, remember?"

Alec looked down, reprimanding himself.

"I just... I don't want you to think of me any differently"

"Why would I think of you any differently?" Alec demanded.

Jace stared into his brother's eyes, indecision shining in his own. He swallowed and took a quick breath "It's been a recurring dream..." He started, the memories firing up again "About my father"

A familiar expression formed on Alec's face; one of concern.

"He... he wasn't.. the best.. father. It was a tough love relationship. He wanted me to become perfect, I guess. And when I wasn't..."

"He hurt you?!" Alec asked lowly, concern turning to anger.

"It-it wasn't bad. But, yeah, a bit. I don't know why, but all the memories have started coming back. I just- I didn't want to bother you with it, it's not that important"

"Of course it's important, Jace. How could it not be important?"

"It's history, it's irrelevant now. It's not like he can hurt me anymore" Jace defended.

Alec paused, scrutinizing his friend "There's more than that"

"No.. there's not" Jace said slowly, acting confused.

Alec gave an unimpressed stare "Izzy is waiting on us, and I'm not leaving until you tell me everything"

Jace sighed in anger "I've also been seeing him die. Happy now?"

There was still something deeper to it, but Alec didn't want to push it. Jace actually looked close to tears.

"Yeah" Alec opted to answer, leading the two of them over to where Izzy was impatiently waiting.

"Took you long enough" She spat out "It's going to be a lot harder to track this demon now that it's had a headstart. You two good?"

Jace looked to Alec for the answer "Yeah, we're good" The older boy replied.

"Good" Izzy smiled; a smile of malice after being made to wait so long. She roughly grabbed a seraph blade down from the weapons rack and spared hardly any time to wait for her brothers to catch up.

* * *

The mission went okay. They tracked down the demon. Izzy had gotten a few scratches, and Jace a few bruises, but they were all okay. Except now they were expected to sleep. But Alec was too anxious to sleep.

Jace was sure to have another nightmare and Alec didn't know what to do. He'd feel it when it started. Should he go stay with Jace? Was that a good idea? He sat on his bed, picking at the skin of his lip and jogging his legs.

He tensed at the quiet opening of his door; surprised to see Jace walk in. Then again, Jace could probably feel how worked up his Parabatai was getting. Was he here to come him down? Well if so, it was working; Alec already felt better.

"What're you doing?"

Jace's eyes were darting around, he wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to put it; or how Alec would react.

"Alec-" He started off shakily "Can... can I stay here tonight? I don't wanna be alone" He said, eyes brimming with tears.

"Of course" Alec replied; fiercely protective "You don't even need to ask, Jace"

Jace smiled weakly "It'd be better if I just snuck in and jumped into your bed?"

"Shut up" Alec playfully answered, pulling back the covers for Jace.

Silence soon reigned. Jace felt safe here. Under a bundle of blankets, with his brother by his side. If there was a heaven, Jace bet it would feel like this.

"Don't let the nightmares come back" He begged quietly; childishly.

"I won't" Alec promised, searching for the outline of his Parabatai.

Jace knew Alec didn't have any power over the world of dreams, but he believed his promise anyway.


End file.
